Exposure apparatus and device fabrication method

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides an exposure apparatus which transfers a pattern of a reticle onto a substrate, the apparatus including a convey unit configured to convey the substrate while chucking and holding a lower surface of the substrate, and a control unit configured to control a conveyance condition of the convey unit so that a conveyance acceleration is lower when the convey unit conveys the substrate in a vertical direction with downward acceleration than when the convey unit conveys the substrate in the vertical direction with upward acceleration.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus and a devicefabrication method.

2. Description of the Related Art

The performance of an exposure apparatus for use in a semiconductordevice fabrication process is mainly evaluated based on three points:resolution, overlay accuracy, and throughput. Note that the resolutionmeans the minimum feature size of a pattern that can be preciselytransferred, the overlay accuracy means the accuracy of overlayingseveral patterns, and the throughput is the production capacity (thenumber of processed wafers) per unit time. Among these three points,several techniques for improving the throughput have conventionally beenexamined. Examples of these techniques are to increase the exposureenergy per unit time, to shorten the time taken for a wafer stage tomove between shots, and to shorten the wafer conveyance time (exchangetime) taken for wafer exchange.

To shorten the wafer conveyance time, it is necessary to control thewafer state. The wafer often suffers warping or strain due to thedynamic influence of the shape of the transferred pattern or a coatingfilm on it. Such warping or strain of the wafer generates a chuckingerror upon chucking and conveying the wafer, leading to a shift or dropof the wafer during its conveyance. Under the circumstance, JapanesePatent Laid-Open No. 2006-269867 proposes a technique to change thecontrol conditions of processes associated with exposure, in accordancewith warping or strain of the wafer.

Unfortunately, the conventional techniques do not take account of amethod of changing, the control conditions of processes associated withexposure, in accordance with the wafer conveyance direction, so thethroughput may decrease if these techniques are exploited withoutconsidering this aspect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a technique advantageous to prevent asubstrate from shifting and dropping and to improve the throughput of anexposure apparatus.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided anexposure apparatus which transfers a pattern of a reticle onto asubstrate, the apparatus comprising: a convey unit configured to conveythe substrate while chucking and holding a lower surface of thesubstrate; and a control unit configured to control a conveyancecondition of the convey unit so that a conveyance acceleration is lowerwhen the convey unit conveys the substrate in a vertical direction withdownward acceleration than when the convey unit conveys the substrate inthe vertical direction with upward acceleration.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments with reference to theattached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the arrangement of an exposure systemincluding an exposure apparatus according to one aspect of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the arrangement of an exposureprocess unit of the exposure apparatus in the exposure system shown inFIG. 1.

FIGS. 3A to 3E are views showing in time sequence processes oftransferring a wafer to a wafer chuck by a feed hand of the exposureapparatus in the exposure system shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 4A to 4E are views showing in time sequence processes of receivingthe wafer from the wafer chuck by a convey hand of the exposureapparatus in the exposure system shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 5A to 5D are graphs illustrating one example of the drivingconditions of the feed hand and convey hand of the exposure apparatus inthe exposure system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram showing a control unit of theexposure apparatus in the exposure system shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described belowwith reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the samereference numerals denote the same members throughout the drawings, anda repetitive description thereof will not be given.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the arrangement of an exposure system1 including an exposure apparatus 10 according to one aspect of thepresent invention. The exposure system 1 includes the exposure apparatus10 and external apparatus such as a coating/developing apparatus 20 andtransfer apparatus 30, as shown in FIG. 1. The coating/developingapparatus 20 has a function of coating a wafer to be exposed (a waferbefore an exposure process) with a photoresist (photosensitive agent),and a function of developing an exposed wafer (a wafer after an exposureprocess). The transfer apparatus 30 has a function of connecting theexposure apparatus 10 and the coating/developing apparatus 20 to eachother to exchange wafers between them. Note that the transfer apparatus30 is often called an EFEM (Equipment Front End Module).

The exposure apparatus 10 is accommodated in a chamber for maintainingthe exposure environment (for example, temperature, humidity, andpressure) constant. In this embodiment, the exposure apparatus 10 is aprojection exposure apparatus which transfers the pattern of a reticleonto a wafer (substrate) by the step & scan scheme. However, theexposure apparatus 10 can also adopt the step & repeat scheme or anotherexposure scheme.

The exposure apparatus 10 includes an exposure process unit 100, loadingstation 110, unloading station 120, alignment unit 130, feed hand 140,convey hand 150, and control unit 160, as shown in FIG. 1.

The exposure process unit 100 includes an illumination optical system101, reticle stage 102, reticle measurement system 103, projectionoptical system 104, wafer stage 105, wafer chuck 106, laserinterferometer 107, and focus measurement system 108, as shown in FIG.2. The illumination optical system 101 illuminates a reticle RT withlight from a light source. The reticle stage 102 holds and drives thereticle RT on which a circuit pattern is formed. The reticle measurementsystem 103 measures the position of the reticle RT held by the reticlestage 102. The projection optical system 104 projects the circuitpattern of the reticle RT onto a wafer WF. The wafer stage 105 holds anddrives the wafer WF in the X-, Y-, and Z-axis directions and rotationdirections about the respective axes. The wafer chuck 106 is mounted onthe wafer stage 105, and chucks and holds the wafer WF. The laserinterferometer 107 measures the position of the wafer stage 105. Thefocus measurement system 108 measures the focus position of the wafer WF(its position in the Z-axis direction). In an exposure process, lightfrom the illumination optical system 101 illuminates the reticle RT. Thelight which bears the information of the pattern of the reticle RT formsan image on the wafer WF via the projection optical system 104.

Referring back to FIG. 1, three pins 106 a, 106 b, and 106 c whichascend/descend in order to exchange the wafer WF with the feed hand 140and convey hand 150 are inserted in the wafer chuck 106 which chucks andholds the wafer WF.

A wafer to be exposed is stored (placed) in the loading station 110. Anexposed wafer is stored (placed) in the unloading station 120. Thealignment unit 130 aligns the wafer WF.

The feed hand 140 conveys the wafer WF aligned by the alignment unit 130from the alignment unit 130 to a supply position SP, and transfers thewafer WF to the wafer chuck 106 at the supply position SP. The conveyhand 150 conveys the wafer WF stored in the loading station 110 to thealignment unit 130. Also, the convey hand 150 receives the wafer WF,held by the wafer chuck 106, at a recovery position RP, and conveys thewafer WF from the recovery position RP to the unloading station 120. Inthis embodiment, the feed hand 140 and convey hand 150 function as aconvey unit which conveys the wafer WF while chucking and holding thelower surface of the wafer WF. Note that in FIG. 1, the supply positionSP and recovery position RP are specific positions on the plane wherethe wafer stage 105 is movable.

Conveyance of the wafer WF by the feed hand 140 and, more specifically,transfer of the wafer WF to the wafer chuck 106, and conveyance of thewafer WF by the convey hand 150 and, more specifically, reception of thewafer WF from the wafer chuck 106 will be explained herein.

FIGS. 3A to 3E are views showing in time sequence processes oftransferring the wafer WF to the wafer chuck 106 by the feed hand 140.To transfer the wafer WF to the wafer chuck 106, first, the three pins106 a, 106 b, and 106 c inserted in the wafer chuck 106 start to ascend(see FIG. 3A).

After the pins 106 a to 106 c complete their ascent, the feed hand 140starts to be driven in the horizontal direction (a direction indicatedby a left arrow) (see FIG. 3B). That is, the feed hand 140 conveys awafer WF to be exposed in the horizontal direction until it ispositioned on the pins 106 a to 106 c while chucking and holding thelower surface of the wafer WF.

After the wafer WF is positioned on the pins 106 a to 106 c, the feedhand 140 stops its movement in the horizontal direction, cancels thechucking of the lower surface of the wafer WF, and starts to be drivendownward in the vertical direction (see FIG. 3C). That is, the feed hand140 starts to convey the wafer WF downward in the vertical direction (adirection indicated by a down arrow) in order to transfer the wafer WFto the pins 106 a to 106 c.

After the feed hand 140 transfers the wafer WF to the pins 106 a to 106c (when the wafer WF has been held by the pins 106 a to 106 c), the feedhand 140 stops its movement downward in the vertical direction, andstarts to be driven in the horizontal direction (a direction indicatedby a right arrow) (see FIG. 3D).

After the feed hand 140 retreats from the space between the wafer WF andthe wafer chuck 106, the pins 106 a, 106 b, and 106 c start to descend(see FIG. 3E). In this way, the wafer WF is transferred from the feedhand 140 to the wafer chuck 106, and is chucked and held by the waferchuck 106.

FIGS. 4A to 4E are views showing in time sequence processes of receivingthe wafer WF from the wafer chuck 106 by the convey hand 150. To receivethe wafer WF from the wafer chuck 106, first, the wafer chuck 106cancels the chucking of the exposed wafer WF. The three pins 106 a, 106b, and 106 c inserted in the wafer chuck 106 start to ascend (see FIG.4A).

After the pins 106 a to 106 c complete their ascent, the convey hand 150starts to be driven in the horizontal direction (a direction indicatedby a left arrow) (see FIG. 4B). That is, the convey hand 150 is drivenin the horizontal direction up to the position, where the wafer WF isreceived, between the wafer WF and the wafer chuck 106.

After the convey hand 150 is positioned between the wafer WF and thewafer chuck 106, it stops its movement in the horizontal direction, andstarts to be driven upward in the vertical direction (a directionindicated by an up arrow) in order to receive the wafer WF from the pins106 a to 106 c (see FIG. 4C).

After the convey hand 150 receives the wafer WF from the pins 106 a to106 c (when the wafer WF has been held by the convey hand 150), it stopsits movement upward in the vertical direction, chucks the lower surfaceof the wafer WF, and starts to be driven in the horizontal direction(see FIG. 4D). That is, the convey hand 150 conveys the exposed wafer WFin the horizontal direction while chucking and holding the lower surfaceof the wafer WF.

After the convey hand 150 retreats from the space between the wafer WFand the wafer chuck 106, the pins 106 a, 106 b, and 106 c start todescend (see FIG. 4E).

The control unit 160 includes, for example, a CPU and memory andcontrols the operation (whole) of the exposure apparatus 10. In thisembodiment, the control unit 160 especially controls conveyance of thewafer WF by the feed hand 140 and convey hand 150.

In conveying the wafer WF downward in the vertical direction withdownward acceleration or in the horizontal direction by the feed hand140 and convey hand 150, the contact pressures of the wafer WF with thefeed hand 140 and convey hand 150 drop due to factors associated withthe acceleration at which the wafer WF is conveyed. Therefore, a shiftor drop of the wafer WF is more likely to occur during its conveyance bythe feed hand 140 and convey hand 150 in that case. In contrast, inconveying the wafer WF upward in the vertical direction with upwardacceleration by the feed hand 140 and convey hand 150, the contactpressures of the wafer WF with the feed hand 140 and convey hand 150rise due to factors associated with the acceleration at which the waferWF is conveyed. Therefore, a shift or drop of the wafer WF is extremelyless likely to occur during its conveyance by the feed hand 140 andconvey hand 150 in that case.

For this reason, the control unit 160 controls the conveyance conditionso that the conveyance acceleration is lower when the feed hand 140 andconvey hand 150 convey the wafer WF downward in the vertical directionwith downward acceleration than when they convey the wafer WF upward inthe vertical direction with upward acceleration. Similarly, the controlunit 160 controls the conveyance condition so that the conveyanceacceleration is lower when the feed hand 140 and convey hand 150 conveythe wafer WF in the horizontal direction than when they convey the waferWF upward in the vertical direction with upward acceleration. Moreover,the control unit 160 may control the conveyance condition so that theconveyance acceleration is lower when the feed hand 140 and convey hand150 convey the wafer WF downward in the vertical direction with downwardacceleration than when they convey the wafer WF in the horizontaldirection.

Also, a shift or drop of the wafer WF is more likely to occur during itsconveyance by the feed hand 140 and convey hand 150 when the wafer WFhas a warp than when it has no warp.

In view of this, the control unit 160 determines, the conveyanceacceleration at which the feed hand 140 and convey hand 150 convey thewafer WF, in accordance with the amount of warp of the wafer WF. Forexample, if the amount of warp of the wafer WF is smaller than apredetermined amount in conveying the wafer WF downward in the verticaldirection with downward acceleration, the control unit 160 determinesthe conveyance acceleration at which the feed hand 140 and convey hand150 convey the wafer WF such that a conveyance condition as indicated bya solid line in FIG. 5C or FIG. 5D is satisfied. On the other hand, ifthe amount of warp of the wafer WF is greater than or equal to thepredetermined amount in that conveyance operation, the control unit 160determines the conveyance acceleration at which the feed hand 140 andconvey hand 150 convey the wafer WF such that a conveyance condition asindicated by a dotted line in FIG. 5C or FIG. 5D is satisfied. Also, ifthe amount of warp of the wafer WF is smaller than a predeterminedamount in conveying the wafer WF in the horizontal direction, thecontrol unit 160 determines the conveyance acceleration at which thefeed hand 140 and convey hand 150 convey the wafer WF such that aconveyance condition as indicated by a solid line in FIG. 5B issatisfied. On the other hand, if the amount of warp of the wafer WF isgreater than or equal to the predetermined amount in that conveyanceoperation, the control unit 160 determines the conveyance accelerationat which the feed hand 140 and convey hand 150 convey the wafer WF suchthat a conveyance condition as indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 5B issatisfied. Note that in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the ordinate indicates theconveyance velocity of the wafer WF (unit: mm/ms), and the abscissaindicates time (unit: ms).

A case in which, for example, the wafer WF is conveyed in the horizontaldirection, as shown in FIG. 3B, in transferring the wafer WF to thewafer chuck 106 by the feed hand 140 will be considered. In this case,if the amount of warp of the wafer WF is smaller than a predeterminedamount, the feed hand 140 conveys the wafer WF in accordance with aconveyance condition indicated by a solid line in FIG. 5B. However, ifthe amount of warp of the wafer WF is greater than or equal to thepredetermined amount, the feed hand 140 conveys the wafer WF inaccordance with a conveyance condition indicated by a dotted line inFIG. 5B. In addition, a case in which the wafer WF is conveyed downwardin the vertical direction, as shown in FIG. 3C, will be considered. Inthis case, if the amount of warp of the wafer WF is smaller than apredetermined amount, the feed hand 140 conveys the wafer WF inaccordance with a conveyance condition indicated by a solid line in FIG.5D. However, if the amount of warp of the wafer WF is greater than orequal to the predetermined amount, the feed hand 140 conveys the waferWF in accordance with a conveyance condition indicated by a dotted linein FIG. 5D. Note that in FIGS. 3D and 3E, although the feed hand 140 isdriven in the horizontal direction, it need not always conform to aconveyance condition indicated by a solid line or dotted line in FIG. 5Bbecause it does not hold the wafer WF.

A case in which the wafer WF is conveyed in the horizontal direction, asshown in FIGS. 4D and 4E, in receiving the wafer WF from the wafer chuck106 by the convey hand 150 will be considered. In this case, if theamount of warp of the wafer WF is smaller than a predetermined amount,the convey hand 150 conveys the wafer WF in accordance with a conveyancecondition indicated by a solid line in FIG. 5B. However, if the amountof warp of the wafer WF is greater than or equal to the predeterminedamount, the convey hand 150 conveys the wafer WF in accordance with aconveyance condition indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 5B. Moreover, acase in which the wafer WF is conveyed upward in the vertical direction,as shown in FIG. 4C, will be considered. In this case, if the amount ofwarp of the wafer WF is smaller than a predetermined amount, the conveyhand 150 conveys the wafer WF in accordance with a conveyance conditionindicated by a solid line in FIG. 5C. However, if the amount of warp ofthe wafer WF is greater than or equal to the predetermined amount, theconvey hand 150 conveys the wafer WF in accordance with a conveyancecondition indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 5C. Note also that in FIG.4A, although the convey hand 150 is driven in the horizontal direction,it need not always conform to a conveyance condition indicated by asolid line or dotted line in FIG. 5B because it does not hold the waferWF.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram showing the control unit 160. Notethat FIG. 6 shows blocks associated with control of the conveyancecondition of the feed hand 140 and convey hand 150.

A recipe including process parameters associated with, for example, thecondition and procedure of an exposure process is input via an inputunit of the exposure apparatus 10, and stored in a memory 161 of thecontrol unit 160. The recipe stored in the memory 161 includes stateinformation indicating the state of the lower surface of the wafer WF,including the amount of warp of the wafer WF mentioned above. Althoughthe amount of warp of the wafer WF is defined by, for example, thedifference between the lowermost portion and uppermost portion withinthe wafer plane, the present invention is not limited to this. Also, thestate information of the lower surface of the wafer WF includes not onlythe amount of warp of the wafer WF but also, for example, the directionof warp indicating whether the wafer WF has an upward convex shape or adownward convex shape, information as to whether a foreign substance isadhering on the lower surface of the wafer WF, and the frictioncoefficient of the lower surface of the wafer WF.

A conveyance condition determination block 162 extracts stateinformation from the recipe stored in the memory 161, and determines theconveyance condition of the feed hand 140 and convey hand 150 byreferring to a table 163 to convert the extracted state information intoa conveyance condition. Note that the table 163 sets the associationbetween the state information and the conveyance condition. For example,the table 163 sets conveyance velocities corresponding to solid lines inFIGS. 5A and 5B in association with an amount of warp of the wafer WF ofless than 100 μm, and sets conveyance velocities corresponding to dottedlines in FIGS. 5A and 5B in association with an amount of warp of thewafer WF of 100 μm or more. However, the conveyance condition includesnot only the above-mentioned conveyance velocity but also, for example,the conveyance acceleration at which the feed hand 140 and convey hand150 convey the wafer WF, the chucking force for chucking the wafer WF,and the conveyance standby time from when the lower surface of the waferWF starts to be chucked until the wafer WF starts to be conveyed. Inthis case, the table 163 sets the associations between the stateinformation, and the conveyance time, the acceleration, the chuckingforce, and the conveyance standby time.

A minimum time holding block 164 holds a conveyance condition to performan exposure process in a shortest time (that is, a conveyance conditionwhich minimizes the time taken for the wafer WF to be conveyed). Amaximum time holding block 165 holds a conveyance condition to performan exposure process in a longest time (that is, a conveyance conditionwhich maximizes the time taken for the wafer WF to be conveyed).

A conveyance change block 166 inputs the conveyance condition determinedby the conveyance condition determination block 162 and that held in theminimum time holding block 164 or minimum time holding block 164 to ahand control block 167 in accordance with conveyance change parameters.In this embodiment, the conveyance change parameters include a “normalmode”, “speed mode”, and “error avoidance mode”, are input via the inputunit of the exposure apparatus 10, and are stored in an apparatusdatabase. If the “normal mode” is set for the exposure apparatus 10, theconveyance change block 166 inputs the conveyance condition determinedby the conveyance condition determination block 162 to the hand controlblock 167. If the “speed mode” is set for the exposure apparatus 10, theconveyance change block 166 inputs the conveyance condition held in theminimum time holding block 164 to the hand control block 167. If the“error avoidance mode” is set for the exposure apparatus 10, theconveyance change block 166 inputs the conveyance condition held in themaximum time holding block 165 to the hand control block 167. Hence,setting the “speed mode” or “error avoidance mode” for the exposureapparatus 10 makes it possible to input a preset conveyance condition tothe hand control block 167, irrespective of state information indicatingthe state of the lower surface of the wafer WF.

The hand control block 167 controls, driving of the feed hand 140 andconvey hand 150, that is, conveyance of the wafer WF by the feed hand140 and convey hand 150, based on the conveyance condition input fromthe conveyance change block 166.

In this manner, the exposure apparatus 10 according to this embodimentcan control the conveyance condition in accordance with the direction toconvey the wafer WF. This makes it possible to suppress a decrease inthroughput while preventing the wafer WF from shifting and droppingduring its conveyance. Hence, the exposure apparatus 10 can providehigh-quality devices (for example, a semiconductor integrated circuitdevice and a liquid crystal display device) with a high throughput andgood economical efficiency. These devices are fabricated by a step ofexposing a substrate (for example, a wafer or a glass plate) coated witha photoresist (photosensitive agent) using the exposure apparatus 10, astep of developing the exposed substrate, and subsequent known steps.

Although this embodiment mainly assumes the conveyance condition as theconveyance velocity, the same control can also be done assuming theconveyance condition as the conveyance standby time, the acceleration,and the chucking force. For example, the conveyance standby time needonly be controlled so as to be longer when the feed hand 140 and conveyhand 150 convey the wafer WF downward in the vertical direction withdownward acceleration or in the horizontal direction than when theyconvey the wafer WF upward in the vertical direction with upwardacceleration. In this way, the wafer WF is conveyed after the chuckingforce for chucking the lower surface of the wafer WF becomessufficiently large. This makes it possible to prevent the wafer WF fromshifting and dropping during its conveyance, and to increase theacceleration at which the wafer WF is conveyed. Also, the accelerationneed only be controlled so as to be lower when the feed hand 140 andconvey hand 150 convey the wafer WF downward in the vertical directionwith downward acceleration or in the horizontal direction than when theyconvey the wafer WF upward in the vertical direction with upwardacceleration. This makes it possible to prevent the wafer WF fromshifting and dropping during its conveyance. The chucking force needonly be controlled so as to be larger when the feed hand 140 and conveyhand 150 convey the wafer WF downward in the vertical direction withdownward acceleration or in the horizontal direction than when theyconvey the wafer WF upward in the vertical direction with upwardacceleration. This makes it possible to prevent the wafer WF fromshifting and dropping during its conveyance, to raise the conveyancevelocity of the wafer WF, and to increase the acceleration at which thewafer WF is conveyed. Note that the conveyance velocity, the conveyancestandby time, the acceleration, and the chucking force can also becontrolled in combination with each other as the conveyance condition.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Applications No.2009-163007, filed on Jul. 9, 2009 and No. 2010-139950 filed on Jun. 18,2010, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A convey method for conveying a substrate, themethod comprising the steps of: conveying the substrate, a lower surfaceof the substrate being chucked and held, downward while accelerating;and conveying the substrate, the lower surface of the substrate beingchucked and held, upward while accelerating, wherein an acceleration inconveying the substrate downward while accelerating is lower than anacceleration in conveying the substrate upward while accelerating. 2.The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:determining whether a warp of the substrate is greater than or equal toa predetermined amount or is smaller than the predetermined amount,wherein the acceleration in conveying the substrate downward whileaccelerating in a case where the warp of the substrate is greater thanor equal to the predetermined amount is lower than the acceleration inconveying the substrate downward while accelerating in a case where thewarp of the substrate is smaller than the predetermined amount.
 3. Aconvey method for conveying a substrate, the method comprising the stepsof: conveying the substrate, a lower surface of the substrate beingchucked and held, upward while decelerating; and conveying thesubstrate, the lower surface of the substrate being chucked and held,downward while decelerating, wherein an acceleration in conveying thesubstrate upward while decelerating is lower than an acceleration inconveying the substrate in the downward while decelerating.
 4. A conveymethod for conveying a substrate, the method comprising the steps of:conveying the substrate, a lower surface of the substrate being chuckedand held, upward while accelerating; and conveying the substrate, thelower surface of the substrate being chucked and held, upward whiledecelerating, wherein an acceleration in conveying the substrate upwardwhile decelerating is lower than an acceleration in conveying thesubstrate upward while accelerating.
 5. A convey method for conveying asubstrate, the method comprising the steps of: conveying the substrate,a lower surface of the substrate being chucked and held, downward whileaccelerating; and conveying the substrate, the lower surface of thesubstrate being chucked and held, upward while accelerating, wherein atime from when the lower surface of the substrate starts to be chuckeduntil when the substrate starts to be conveyed downward is longer than atime from when the lower surface of the substrate starts to be chuckeduntil when the substrate starts to be conveyed upward.
 6. An exposuremethod for exposing a substrate, the method comprising: conveying andsupplying the substrate, a lower surface of the substrate being chuckedand held, downward while accelerating; exposing the substrate; andrecovering and conveying the substrate, the lower surface of thesubstrate being chucked and held, upward while accelerating, wherein anacceleration in conveying and supplying the substrate downward whileaccelerating is lower than an acceleration in recovering and conveyingthe substrate upward while accelerating.
 7. A device fabrication methodcomprising steps of: applying a photoresist on a substrate; conveyingand supplying the substrate, a lower surface of the substrate beingchucked and held, downward while accelerating; exposing the substrate;and recovering and conveying the substrate, the lower surface of thesubstrate being chucked and held, upward while accelerating, wherein anacceleration in conveying and supplying the substrate downward whileaccelerating is lower than an acceleration in recovering and conveyingthe substrate upward while accelerating.